The last day of 2016 gets one additional second

Friday

Dec 30, 2016 at 4:47 PM

In the Eastern Time Zone, the leap second will occur at 6:59:60 p.m. Dec. 31.

If Saturday seems just a little bit longer, you’re not imagining things.The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, an international standards body, has called for a “leap second” to be added tonight. The time will be officially noted on clocks that reference Coordinated Universal Time as 11:59:60 p.m. Dec. 31.“Local time zone offsets apply as needed,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notes in its bulletin on the matter. That means in the Eastern Time Zone, the extra second will occur at 6:59:60 p.m. today.The most recent leap second was on June 30, 2015.The clock adjustments are made to keep the time of day in synch with the earth’s rotation.